Heston Blumenthal's Desert Island Discs displayed, as one might perhaps have anticipated, a somewhat unorthodox taste in music. Indeed it would probably have been more surprising had he plumped for a bit of Rolling Stones and some Mozart.

Instead what he gave us was a selection that ranged from the North African cabaret feel of Algerian-Jewish singer Lili Boniche to the beat contortions of DJ and drummer Dr Rubberfunk.

Blumenthal made for a delightful guest. He appears to have a genuine sense of curiosity, and he told lovely stories about staying up until 2am experimenting with crème brûlée; translating French cookery books word-for-word; his earlier life as a debt collector; and the day he sent his wife to the supermarket to see which potatoes had the greatest density (the denser the potato the better the chips, apparently).

His life experience was so richly varied that you felt if you picked him up and rattled him, absolutely anything might fall out. And this was pretty much how his musical choices seemed too: a bit of classical, a bit of dub, a bit of Bobby Womack (he chose, curiously enough, the live version) that he also selected as his favourite of the eight. The common thread, however, that ran from the Ennio Morricone's Man with the Harmonica to Paco de Lucia's Entre Dos Aguas, was a palatable jazziness.

Although Blumenthal is evidently eager to explore new musical flavours, there was undoubtedly a prevailing sense of dinner party music. So, what sort of thing would have expected to be on his list, and is there anything you'd recommend to the adventurous chef?